Walpole: John Smedley Is Named British Luxury Brand of the Year

John Smedley, the Derbyshire knitwear house that holds royal warrants from the King and Queen, has been named British Luxury Brand of the Year at Walpole's British Luxury Awards. The ceremony took place on the evening of Monday 9 November at The Dorchester in London, where around 350 creatives, executives and guests gathered for the awards' 25th year.

It is a fitting moment for a firm whose story is older than most of the institutions that now celebrate it. It is also a pointed message from the industry about what it values at a difficult time for luxury: investment in making things, in Britain, with skills that take years to learn.

Why John Smedley Won

In her commentary on the winners, Walpole's chief executive, Helen Brocklebank, pointed to the company's £4 million investment in its Derbyshire manufacturing. That money supports John Smedley's own collections, but it has also opened its production to other luxury houses and to emerging British designers.

Walpole named Lanvin, DAKS, Maximilian Raynor and Cecile Tulkens among the labels now choosing to manufacture alongside the company. For a young designer, Brocklebank argued, access to that kind of expertise can be the difference between an idea and a business, while a foreign fashion house choosing Derbyshire is an endorsement of British quality.

A Factory With a Long Memory

The Guardian, in a profile of the brand published at the start of the month, described John Smedley's Peak District site as the oldest continuously operating factory in the world, with one of its buildings dating to 1784. Inside, the paper reported, modern Japanese knitting technology works alongside skilled hand finishers and machines more than 60 years old that are kept running with bespoke parts.

The same report noted that the company has faced hard years in a weak luxury market and has survived by pairing its heritage with innovation. Monday's award suggests the industry believes that balance is working.

The Royal Connection

John Smedley's warrants from King Charles and Queen Camilla place it among the households' regular suppliers. A warrant records a long trading relationship rather than a prize, which is precisely why it matters to heritage brands: it speaks to consistency over many years, the quality Walpole chose to reward.

The Other Winners

Mulberry received the Leadership in British Luxury award. Walpole said the Somerset leather house reported an 18 per cent rise in first-half sales under its Back to the Mulberry Spirit strategy, with Christopher Kane, its new creative director, showing his first collection for the house this year. Its two Somerset factories and leathercraft apprenticeship were singled out as a link between global demand and rural jobs.

Private White V.C. won Made in the UK for taking Manchester manufacturing to international customers. Neatsmith took the WOLF Award for Future Legacy for bringing specialist furniture finishing into its London factory and training staff to teach it. Gordon Ramsay received the Visionary award, Boodles was named Best Luxury Experience of the Year, and Cadogan won Sustainable Luxury Brand of the Year.

Among the remaining honours, Vispring and Tom Dixon won Creative Collaboration of the Year, while the violinist Nicola Benedetti and the ballerina Francesca Hayward were recognised as Great Creative Britons. A dozen young labels, from Kingdom Scotland to Kindred of Ireland, were listed as Brands of Tomorrow.

What the Awards Say About British Luxury

Walpole used the evening to make an economic case. By its figures, British luxury generates £81 billion in turnover and £56 billion in exports and supports more than 450,000 jobs. Its message to government was that these businesses need policies that help them compete abroad.

The common thread among this year's winners is manufacturing at home: knitwear in Derbyshire, leather in Somerset, outerwear in Manchester and furniture in London. In an industry often judged by its shop windows, the judges looked behind them, at factories, apprenticeships and the people who keep old crafts alive.

A Quiet Lesson in Heritage

For readers who value the traditions behind the things they buy, John Smedley's win offers a gentle lesson. Heritage is not a museum piece. It survives when a business keeps investing in its craft and shares that skill with the next generation.

A jumper made in a mill that has run since the eighteenth century is a small luxury. A mill that is still hiring, training and making for others is a far rarer one, and that is what Walpole chose to celebrate this week.